South Side Hit Men

29 teams would take Zaidi as the GM or President over KW and RH. About the same ratio as teams (29 against, 1 for) who would ever even be remotely interested in TLR. The lone White Sox coach or manager worth a damn came from Zaidi's organization.

Stop your fussing about nerds and their new fangled arithmetic. TWTW and "decisions from the gut" are what are prized in this bumpkin organization powered by lifetime cronyism. Marco Paddy and Getz/ scouts can bring in talent, but the crony instructional and ML coaches over the decades have done little to nothing with this talent compared to organizations light years ahead of us. Ethan Katz is the only modern coach brought in, and the staff was lightyears ahead of where they were under Cooper (including Giolito having to leave the organization to get quality instruction). The Giants brought in a bunch of new coaches and they won 107 with mostly retreads. What do the Sox do? Bring in La Russa, a bunch of his cronies, Dave Duncan's son, Calligraphy Guy Narron. And there you have it.

Come again? https://www.totalprosports.com/2021/06/16/breaking-mlb-analyst-exposes-yankees-royals-dodgers-with-rampant-cheating-over-the-past-few-years/ https://www.dodgersnation.com/dodgers-were-accused-of-sign-stealing-in-2018-per-the-athletic/2020/01/08/ https://www.outkick.com/catcher-accuses-dodgers-of-stealing-the-brewers-signs-in-the-playoffs/ https://www.thebiglead.com/posts/dave-roberts-dodgers-cheating-pitchers-sticky-stuff-trevor-bauer-01f7kvnng6yr

Talking total cost, you can put bandaids on and getting relievers who contribute 1/3 of the innings for a $30-$50M commitment for the top 1-2 in the league. A top hitter or starter will cost you nine figure commitment. Jerry's carrots cost a lot less than steak and lobster.

Proves the worth of the season is absolute garbage, and owners are plotting to make it completely irrelevant. There should be no Wild Cards. Drop the two teams without a fan base (Tampa and Miami), return to four seven team divisions, and restore integrity to the season. Wild Card "World" Champions (aka teams not good enough to win a 5 team division) 1997 Florida Marlins 2002 Anaheim Angels 2003 Florida Marlins (2 WS, 0 Division Titles in their existence) 2004 Boston Red Sox 2006 Saint Louis Cardinals (The all time shittiest qualifier, .515 winning percentage) 2011 Saint Louis Cardinals 2014 San Francisco Giants 2019 Washington Nationals If Boston or Los Angeles win this year, wild cards will have won 1/3 or .333 of all World Series during this era, despite the fact they are .250 or the teams in the playoffs, and weren't good enough to beat four teams in the regular season. MLB's solution, have 10 wild card teams and make the regular season completely irrelevant.

Boston is as bad or worse, and the thread title is "poop".

Closers are much cheaper financially. Jerry loves much cheaper financially. It's his MO during 8 decades with the Sox/Bulls.

140 Sample Size = a majority of games against Tanking Teams. The Sox offense looked like shit most games against the playoff teams, second series against the injury/COVID decimated Yankees (which they still lost two of three, the non La Russa game the only victory) the outlier. Grandal or Eloy playing anywhere close to 140 games only happens in a video game. Bottom line is Benetti's Hyped numbers were just as small of a sample size, and were compiled against the shittiest teams in baseball. at Boston (4.0 Runs Per Game) at New York AL 1.7 vs. Saint Louis 4.3 vs. Tampa Bay 4.3 at Houston 2.0 vs. Houston 5.0 at Milwaukee 1.7 vs. New York AL 5.6 at Tampa Bay 3.7 vs. Boston 4.7 ALDS Houston 4.5 Average: 3.77 runs per game.

Yep, he wasn't the answer before, and he's not the answer now. Assuming JR and TLR remain alive, I believe Tony will stick around through the rest of the window, perhaps for most of the decade to catch Connie Mack, and the Sox will waste the entire window to placate JR's ego and hubris.

That's not true. 2021 OPS / Player / Career Postseason OPS / (2021 Salary) 1.022 Robert .952 ($3.5M) 1.000 Vaughn 1.000 ($0.6M) 1.000 Sheets 1.000 ($0.6M) .857 Abreu .871 ($19.7M) .831 Hernandez .900 ($5.0M) .737 Anderson 1.030 ($7.3M) .717 Garcia .515 ($3.5M) 2021 Zack Collins OPS .669 2021 CWS Adam Eaton OPS .642 .635 Grandal .605 ($18.3M) .588 Jimenez .684 ($4.3M) .544 Moncada .398 ($6.8M) .000 Engel .526 ($1.4M)

The Hype The Reality: Game 1 - 1 Run Game 2 - 4 Runs Game 3 - 12 Runs <= AKA One Shinning Moment Game 4 - 1 Run Runs per game 4.5.

Regardless of any feelings regarding the previous series, to be a respectable website, it is imperative to at minimum have the proper names for both teams, so we aren't considered idiots. Should future game threads be titled White Sux because La Russa intentionally ordered Ohtani hit? An unlike the alleged intent you are stating, MLB suspended Wright and La Russa for their clear actions. The Astros have faced no investigation, ejection, or suspension. Jose had no issue with it, people are bent out of shape because Tony threw his 2 year old tantrum, more out of embarrassment for being completely pwned by Dusty Baker the entire season. Dusty just looked at the fool and said "Child, please", the entire baseball world once again is laughing at the White Sox for yet another La Russa incident.

One of the reasons the Sox are where they are on this list. Last season team reached LCS: 30. Pittsburgh (1992) 29. Cincinnati (1995) 28. San Diego (1998) 27. Seattle (2001) 26. Minnesota (2002) 25. Miami (2003) 24. Chicago AL (2005) And in both instances he was let off with a rest slap.

Sure he does. He doesn't have to answer to anyone or for anything. Ricky had the balls to go to Abreu and tell him you need to become a legitimate first baseman or you're a permanent DH. Does Tony have the balls to tell Tim or Abreu anything? Abreu plays every game, regardless of how bad he is injured or is slumping. Not only does he pencil himself in, he demands the best player available to protect him in the lineup. And stop running out there when Abreu gets hit like he is two years old. Part of it is due to the fact the Sox were playing absolute ciphers in the OF (Goodwin, Lamb, Sheets), but we were told the team would be better offensively and defensively when everyone was back, and they looked like absolute shit defensively the entire series and played their worst baseball of the season in Game 4. WTF does "originally" mean in that tweet? I read it as he will now stay LONGER than three years, He did not go in there and said I'm only staying one more season. He's not going to start the season intentionally as a lame duck. It's my contention this clown wants to beat Connie Mack's record. I could see Jerry putting in his will that Tony cannot be fired under any circumstance.

How come there isn't a pejorative for the Red Cubs, who won a World Series cheating one year after the Astros? Managed by Alex Cora who was suspended for a season and has two "tainted" World Series rings, opposing Dusty Baker who had nothing to do with any of it.

Please Tony, it's your miracle chance to go home where you belong. Get the gang back together. McGwire, both Duncans, Oquendo, Lilllquist. Take Narron with you. Do it. Do it.

Totally concur on Lynn, have been posting since his chronic knee issues ended his dominance the past two months of the season. In terms of fielding, infield guy Joe McEwing and outfield guy Daryl Boston have been here close to a decade. Outside of Daryl's work with Vaughn, there is not much evidence any fundamentals were covered this season. The same defensive crap that people bitched about when Ricky was here has not changed whatsoever. They haven't done much of anything under three managers, and it's hard to imagine something changing now. Jerry sprung for two additional coaches for Tony, because clearly he could use as much help as possible. One was used on their catcher "guru" Jerry Narron. If anything, the catchers collectively took a step back this season. I don't see anything happening on the #2 front, unless Tony leaves or they make changes the Sox or Tony seldom if ever make.

They never said what his innings target was. I think they managed him his workload well, he had no base and they were conservative. However, next season they need to solely commit to him starting, developing 3-4 pitches and being ready to start games in late June or July, perhaps a 2-3 inning start and work his way to 120-140 innings including playoffs. His usage the past week was ridiculous, and Tony should apologize to both Michael and the fans for pitching him in Game 4. This is exactly how it went down in the post game press conference. He prefaced it by saying "after I became stablished", i.e. sometime in Oakland. Wonder if players can trust Hahn or others in the organization to keep their thoughts on La Russa confidential. With a manager controlling your life's income via playing time, especially younger players, it's best to keep your mouth shut than risk everything. This organization has had a shady record over the years, especially when it comes to leaks, management clubhouse informants/plants, etc.. Abreu and other select veterans do whatever the hell they want, play when they want, demand they play even if it's smart to sit them for health or rest, etc. However, if veterans serious about doing what it takes to win a championship, and a ballot was confidential, the results may not be in Tony's favor.

I think you quoted the wrong part, or the article was updated. Losing Hawkins will help the Cubs, and hurt the Guardians. Some here may be more concerned with the former, but it works for me. Detroit and Cleveland will begin narrowing the gap with the Sox next season, unless the Owner and FO steps up and makes significant improvements. Both already enjoy a schematic advantage in the dugout.

You are missing my point. The average ball player today would have been a star back in the day, the average player back in the day would have trouble making a ML roster today. There would be a few limited outliers, including some you call out, but they would be the exceptions, not the rule. And the training and health components are not the only factors. The population pool was tens of millions of white Americans and a couple dozen black players when Koufax came up in Brooklyn, and wasn’t much larger by the time he retired. He was much larger size wise than nearly all other pitchers in his era. Today, the talent base has increased tenfold, reaches Latin America, Japan, Korea. This phenomenon is not limited to baseball, as hockey and basketball grace experienced the same exponential growth in talent pool. George Mikan is not even starting in the NBA, let alone in the hall of fame, if born over the past few decades. PS - A healthy Secretariat would have beaten them all, no horse will ever match or beat his record at Belmont, and it’s unlikely they touch his Kentucky Derby time. In that sport, the population of available athletes has shrunk, as the tax write offs available to owners and breeders changed in 1986, and the sport has been in precipitous decline. The 1973 Belmont Steaks is the greatest athletic performance in my lifetime, no human in any sport will ever come close to matching that level of domination.

Make no mistake, the old fossil loved him some Craig Kimbrel as well. https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/video/la-russa-on-kimbrel-plan

Such a fucking hypocritical asshat. Dotson told reporters after the game Tony ordered him to throw at Murray and Cal Ripken because the Orioles where ass whupping another of his ill prepared White Sox playoff teams. https://vault.si.com/vault/1983/10/17/knocking-their-sox-off Tony is the last of the relics of yesteryear, MLB Mall Cop. Clueless about what’s going on during the game, laser focused on the unwritten rules. He and his team were an embarrassment out there, Dusty just looked at him like he was the clown that he is. Even Abreu looked at him like WTF, he and his teammates just wanted to get out of there at that point after being thoroughly unprepared at every facet of the game to compete against a quality and prepared playoff opponent. Won’t be the last time as long as Tony remains. Even AJ who has only seen the team a few time this year was two-three steps ahead of La Russa in key situations. I wish the Sox had a manager who was more focused about beating his opponent than beaning his opponent.

And what about the typical lineup he faced, mostly Madrigal or Altuve size, played half the year, sold insurance or worked at a store the other half of the year. Blacks and Latin Americans were mostly excluded until the end of his career (10% combined participation in the late 50s to about 20% when he stepped down), and the handful who did were stars / MVPs because they dominated in a league full of recreational softball players. People cherry pick this or that player. But if you watch a game, you would think it was maybe a high school or college game by the size of the players. Keith Hernandez one of the bigger players at 6 feet 180 lbs in the 1980s. “Giant” Mickey Mantle was 5’ 11” 195 lbs., now most middle infielders are bigger, stronger, more muscle, and they play sober. Koufax faced nine hitters, most of whom would be high school sized today, with a much lower physical ability than today’s player. If Koufax, physically a giant in his era (6’ 2” 210 lbs) had to face the 2021 Astros or White Sox, with today’s strike zone, he’d have trouble getting through the lineup more than two times.

I thought McCann at $10M and Grandal at $18.3M were both ridiculous. I wanted Renfroe, Zunino and Wacha for what they paid Eaton last year. Wacha wasn't good, but the other two were excellent values.